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1 Kings 21:15

in 1 Kings 21

When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, who refused to give it to you for silver. For Naboth is no longer alive, but dead.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.

KJV

And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead.

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This verse in 1 Kings 21

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Might often prevails against right, and wonderful is the divine patience that suffers it to do so. God is certainly of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and yet for a time keeps silence when the wicked devours the man that is more righteous than he, Hab. i.

This site's exposition

Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth

on 1 Kings 21:15-16

Jezebel's message strips the murder down to a real estate transaction, Naboth is not alive, but dead, so arise and take what is now unclaimed. Ahab asks no question about how the vineyard came free and goes down that same day to take possession, and his silence is its own answer. Henry calls it a case of might prevailing against right, with God's patience letting the wicked devour a more righteous man for a season before judgment falls.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And it came to pass when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Arise, take possession - By what rites or in what forms this was done, we do not know.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

Get up and take possession. Some of our Sages say that the property of those executed by the king [belong] to the king. And some of them say.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on I Kings 21:15:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

28 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַֽיְהִי֙and it was

    vayhiH1961 →3559 times

  • כִּשְׁמֹ֣עַwhen heard

    kishmoa'H8085 →1159 times

  • אִיזֶ֔בֶלJezebel

    ʾizevelH348 →22 times

  • כִּֽי־that

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • סֻקַּ֥לhe had been stoned

    sukalH5619 →22 times

  • נָב֖וֹתNaboth

    navotH5022 →22 times

  • וַיָּמֹ֑תand he had died

    vaiyamotH4191 →839 times

  • וַתֹּ֨אמֶרand she said

    vatomerH559 →5305 times

  • אִיזֶ֜בֶלJezebel

    ʾizevelH348 →22 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • אַחְאָ֗בAhab

    ʾachavH256 →92 times

  • ק֣וּםarise

    kumH6965 →628 times

  • רֵ֞שׁtake possession of

    reshH3423 →231 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • כֶּ֣רֶם׀[the] vineyard of

    keremH3754 →92 times

  • נָב֣וֹתNaboth

    navotH5022 →22 times

  • הַיִּזְרְעֵאלִ֗יthe Jezreelite

    haiyizreeliH3158 →13 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֤רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • מֵאֵן֙he refused

    meenH3985 →

  • לָתֶת־to give

    latet-H5414 →2011 times

  • לְךָ֣to you

    lekha

  • בְכֶ֔סֶףfor money

    vekhesefH3701 →403 times

  • כִּ֣יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • אֵ֥יןnot

    ʾeinH369 →789 times

  • נָב֛וֹתNaboth

    navotH5022 →22 times

  • חַ֖י[is] alive

    chaiH2416 →498 times

  • כִּי־for

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • מֵֽת׃he has died

    metH4191 →839 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

4 in all, six open

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Proverbs 4:17

    For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 20:17

      Food gained by fraud is sweet to a man, but later his mouth is full of gravel.

    • James 5:4–5

      Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.

    • Psalms 14:4

      Will the workers of iniquity never learn? They devour my people like bread; they refuse to call upon the LORD.

    • Proverbs 9:17

      “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is tasty!”

    • Micah 6:12

      For the wealthy of the city are full of violence, and its residents speak lies; their tongues are deceitful in their mouths.

  • Through

    1 Kings 21:7

    But his wife Jezebel said to him, “Do you not reign over Israel? Get up, eat some food, and be cheerful, for I will get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

    it leads to

    • 2 Samuel 13:4

      so he asked Amnon, “Why are you, the son of the king, so depressed morning after morning? Won’t you tell me?” Amnon replied, “I am in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”

    • Daniel 5:19–21

      Because of the greatness that He bestowed on him, the people of every nation and language trembled in fear before him. He killed whom he wished and kept alive whom he wished; he exalted…

    • 1 Kings 21:15–16

      When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, who refused to give it to you for…

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Kings

The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
1 Kings: the study guide →Read 1 Kings 21 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 1 Kings 21 →